Another Chance Ranch

A Secret to Ironing

As most of you know, I am now unemployed.  It pains me to say this because I've never been unemployed.  I started working before I was 16 years old, and now I am a homemaker.  I don't sit around and eat bon bons, that is for sure.  I lay in the sun, lunch with friends, and shop.  Now, if you believe that I have some swampland in Arizona to sell you as well.

I've never been busier.  It is nice to have everything done by the time McD gets home so he doesn't have to worry about something getting done.  He never has to complain that he doesn't have clean socks or underwear because I have it done.  That is a huge change.  I have actually enjoyed getting into cleaning the house.  Next I will be cleaning out closets, reorganizing the pantry, etc.

Something that I am doing now that I haven't done in years is ironing.  It was so much easier to send everything to the cleaners.  Drop it off before 8 in the morning and it is ready that afternoon by 4.  Not too shabby, but it was kind of expensive.  We are cutting expenses now, and in my mind that was one of the expenses to hit the chopping block.  McD was ready to send his work clothes on to the cleaners, but when I told him I could do it he gave me a chance.  

A long time ago I heard that if you put Aluminum Foil under your ironing board cover you would get better results.  Supposedly the heat would reflect off of the foil under the clothes, and radiate more heat for better pressing.  I decided to give it a try.

Step 1:  Drag out the big ironing board.  See, I usually use the little built in ironing board that is in our closet because the ironing I had was minimal.  Not today.  I am working on the Big Mamma Jamma ironing board.

Step 2:  Peel that ironing board cover off.  I was thankful that this ironing board cover string was not just tied in a knot, some are you know.  This one had a fancy little do hickey to hold the string tight.  I just failed to photograph it.  What was I thinking?  That is one very important part to my ironing board cover.

Oh look, you can kind of see the fancy little do hickey.  If you look toward the middle of the ironing board you will see a little black piece with the string threaded between some really tight slits in the plastic.  It holds the string in there perfectly.  

Step 3:  Get your aluminum foil out.  All I had in the house was Reynolds Wrap, and I just happened to get 5 FEET MORE!  I really feel like it should have said, "5 More Feet," but who am I to say how they should word it. 

  

Step 4:  Tear a piece of foil that is long enough to cover the whole ironing board, and put it in place.

Step 5:  Replace the cover, and iron BABY!

I got this all put together, got my iron out, and started ironing.  Believe it or not, it actually helped.  I kind of wondered if this was just an old wives' tale, but I guess not.  

Give it a try!  Let me know what you think.

Gotta go finish ironing now.

Abby Update - June 2010

About a month ago Abby got a new collar.  This is the face she made.  Oh she didn't like it at all.  She pouted for hours, but she got over it and is working her way up to a nice spiky collar. :)

She is growing like a weed, and she is funny!  She tends to do things when she knows that I do not have my camera.  I am going to be carrying my camera with me even when I go to the bathroom if that is what it takes to get photos of her doing some of her antics.  

Last night she sat on Mia's head.  Mia wouldn't play with her, so she just sat on her head.  It was the funniest thing.  Mia just sat there and let her.  They are certainly a pair. 

This was taken just the other night, about a two weeks ago really.  Time sure flies doesn't it?!

They play hard, and they sleep hard.  Mia is a lighter sleeper than Abby, so she is half awake here.  Abby could sleep through a tornado, and if not blown away, would wake up not knowing anything ever happened. And she is supposed to be a watch dog.  Great!

 

The Meat Grinder Experience

The Meat Grinder.

Here's the story.  We raise our own beef, and when we get everything back from the butcher there are some cuts that we just don't eat much.  So we decided that we were going to make our own hamburger meat.  Slick had this meat grinder and told us that we could borrow it.  We weren't sure we would like doing this, but we had to try it. 

We thawed the meat, and were ready to try this thing.  It was a lot harder than it looked.  When I first saw it I wondered how hard it could be and why didn't more people do this.  This is why.

You put the meat in the grinder, and crank it all at the same time.  It is easier to do if you have two people working on it, instead of one operating the camera and one trying to operate the grinder. 

This is the grinding mechanism.

You see, you have to shove meat down into this grinder and crank it all at the same time.  It was much easier when I put the camera down and started helping. 

It looks great! It looks fairly easy. WRONG!

Doesn't look as easy here, does it?

Well, I was getting some really mean looks and a little attitude so now is about the time I put the camera down and started helping. 

We ground up several pieces of meat, made them into patties and they tasted GROSS!  No one told us that we had to add some lard to them.  Live and learn I guess.  We cleaned that baby up and gave it back to slick.  No wonder it was stuck in his barn somewhere.  :)

A Sing A Long

Sometimes you feel like a nut.

Sometimes you don't.

Almond Joys got nuts.

Mounds don't.

~~~~

Today I am finally getting to go see my friend DJ.  Hopefully I will have a good report this evening when I get home.

Getting Strange Looks

I tend to get strange looks from people.  And horses. :)

The other day I was out and about with my camera.  I am a the kind of person that will do just about anything to get a shot. I have climbed trees, gone out in a pond, you name it I have done it.  Well, on this particular day I was trying to get a picture of this crazy donkey. 

This silly donkey!  Every time I look at him I hear Eddie Murphy singing I Believe.  This one doesn't dance around near as much as he did though. 

Donkey, that's what we call him, doesn't like his photo taken so I have to be kind of sneaky.  I decided to hide behind Sam.  Well, that didn't work, so I had to get down on the ground under him.  He didn't know what to think.

He wasn't really sure what I was doing, but he didn't move.

But he did have to turn around and smell me.  He is getting used to me sneaking around trying to snap photos. 

I Miss This Man!

I miss you like crazy McD!!

But I will be home this evening!  See you soon!

Another Man

I will be spending time with another man today.  I will be staying at his house.  Dining with him.  Hugging on him and kissing him too.

It's my Grandad!!!

Good grief you guys! What do you think I am?

A Very Special Lady

This is Granny.

This is who I will be spending the next two days with.  We have no idea what we are going to do, but I know that whatever we do we will have fun. 

We are going to try to refrain from working, that much I know for sure.  :)  We may cook, or we may eat out.  We will eat ice cream, and it will probably be late at night when we do. 

We might even work on Granny's blog.  I will be doing a Sunday Shout Out when she gets it up and running.  I am anxious to see what she will write.

Oh, I bet we play cards.  We love to play cards, and we are both very competitive.  :)  It makes for some interesting card games.  :) 

Hopefully I will come back with some really good stories. 

Doodlebug

Have you every looked up Doodlebug? 

Wikipedia claims that there are several different "Doodlebugs." 

For instance,

• Antlion larva
• Armadillidiidae, the pill bugs aka wood lice
• Characters on television shows
• Divining rod, aka dowsing or witching rod
• A 1997 short film written & directed by Christopher Nolan
• A self-propelled rail car
• Type of motorscooter produced in the 1940s.
• A 1930s Ford tractor modified for use during the WWII when there was a shortage of tractors for purchase.
• An Amiga video game
• A powered hang glider harness
• A cleaning pad by 3M
• A colloquial name for the V-1 flying bomb.

Now here at ACRanch we have a completely different definition of Doodlebug.

This is our Doodlebug! 

She is cute as a bug, pun intended, but we can hardly ever get her to look at the camera.

See...

Here I am telling her to look at the camera.  It did absolutely no good.  She has the "Cheese" part down pat though. 

It was my first snow cone of the year, and after the way it worked on my stomach it might be my last.  Let's just say it was a smelly ride home.  Smelly, but lots and lots of laughter.  Yea, I know.  I can't believe I just typed that either. 

Maybe she will look at the camera this time.

Nope.

Let's bring her momma into the picture and see if that helps?  Say cheese again Doodlebug!

Nope, and we all look like we have been eating on sour pickles.

The funny part of all of this is that we don't even know what she was looking at.  Her daddy wasn't standing over there, there wasn't anyone in the street, and we were all telling her to look at Poppy.  By the way, every time I type Poppy I accidentally type Poopy first.  Almost every.single.time.  Sorry Poopy, I mean Poppy!  You know I love you!!

So, let's try this one more time.  Say Cheese Again!

CHEESE AGAIN!!  She finally said it, and laughed out loud because we had been trying to get her to say "again" after saying cheese.  She kind of looked toward the camera.  Kinda.

But here, when Grandma holds the camera she looks right at me.

To be honest it was just a fluke deal.  I was also holding the camera when the umbrella photo was taken and it didn't seem to matter.

We still love our Doodlebug, whether she looks at the camera or not.

Happy Father's Day 2010

We celebrated Father's Day a day early.  My Grandad, Dad, McD aka Poppy, and P3 were there.  The only dad we were missing was Jer, but he lives 10 hours away so he couldn't just drop in. 

We hope all you dads out there have a great day! 

Love,

Julie & McD